Voice & Presentation Coaching
BATH ~ SOMERSET
Make an impact, improve presence and gravitas
Deliver more effective presentations and speeches
Improve your interaction with others and develop better business and personal relationships
Deal with nerves and feel more confident with clients, colleagues, friends and family
Perform better in interview
Performance in Business
IMPROVING PRESENCE & PRESENTATION
Presenting yourself well in business is about giving a performance. Better use of your voice and body can inspire confidence in yourself and inspire others to take action.
Whether you are selling your services, motivating colleagues or securing approval for a new idea or venture, the ability to engage your listeners and win their co-operation is critical to your success.
These might be messages you have heard in business many times – there are a wealth of training organisations offering communication and presentation skills courses. But if you are after a more personal and direct approach, with a creative edge, I offer one-to-one practical coaching in a relaxed but professional environment in which to focus on your needs as an individual.
Finding Your Voice
DEVELOPING VOCAL COMMAND
The voice is perhaps the most crucial part of communication. It’s usually the first thing we use to communicate and make a connection with people. It reveals a great deal about us, not least how confident we feel.
You’ve been using your voice since birth and rarely stop to think about it – unless you find yourself losing it or have to deal with a situation where it seems inadequate. You probably think you are just speaking in your natural way, but there is a big difference between what is natural and what is just habit. Your natural voice is fully capable of responding to any demand that is made on it, in terms of dynamics, range, or stamina. Unfortunately, habits you accumulate over time tend to diminish the capacity of your voice and sometimes even damage it.
But you cannot separate your voice from the rest of you. Voice production comes from your whole person not just the vocal chords: It is affected by your environment; by all the nerve and muscle processes that are brought into play when you prepare to speak; your relationship with yourself and other people; and your thoughts and feelings at the moment of speech. It is essential therefore to think about the way you use your body – stand, move and prepare for action – which also usually has more to do with habit than effectiveness.
Incorporating the Alexander Technique into voice work helps you to become more consciously aware of how you use your body and the habitual tensions which must be avoided. The Technique encourages a freedom of movement which is the basis for effective performance. It also produces the correct support for the voice and automatically leads to improved breathing, stamina and strength.
I aim to teach you how to identify and let go of patterns that keep you from speaking with your full voice. You will find your connection to the ground, discover the support of your body, enhance the quality of your breath, open the channel for sound, and explore new possibilities for resonance. You will develop an increased physical and vocal awareness, allowing continual development.
Public Speaking
BUILDING CONFIDENCE & REACHING YOUR AUDIENCE
Public speaking can be thrilling or threatening. Usually a bit of both! But many people only feel the perceived threat. Naturally gifted speakers are quite a rarity, most people have to work at it, and pre-speech nerves and stage fright are almost universal.
It’s not easy to make an impression. Whether you are a professional speaker accustomed to the limelight, or a local association chairperson adjusting to new visibility, a skilled coach can help you move from an adequate speaker to an engaging communicator. Good public speaking isn’t just about sparkling material; it’s not even just about sounding good or being entertaining. It’s about reaching your listeners. People respond to a genuine human connection.
Coaching can help you accomplish that by exploring what it is to make yourself fully available, identifying with your message and ultimately connecting with your audience.
Managing pre-speech nerves, building confidence and making you a better speaker are some of my goals in working with you. Together we will deal with issues like establishing your presence, finding your full voice, clarifying speech sounds, dealing with stage fright, and caring for the voice. Even if you will never be a Peter Ustinov, my aim is to help you know that you can approach the podium with confidence and even anticipation, knowing you have what it takes to deliver a message with clarity, conviction and style.
I aim to create a relaxed and collaborative environment in which to explore new possibilities and strengthen skills. I have a professional and practical approach, whilst drawing on the creativity of my professional acting background, to instil you with the confidence necessary for clear executable presentations which connect with your audience and get the desired results.
Interviews
PREPARE & PERFORM BETTER IN INTERVIEW
In interviews, I can help you to perform at your best and not be overcome by nerves. Together we can address issues such as making an impact, presence and body language, pacing yourself, speaking in a relaxed and authoritative way, actively listening and relating to your interviewers; to increase your chances of getting that job and improve your skills in the workplace once you have.
What Happens in a Coaching Session
We will start with what you want to achieve. My personal coaching works with you to address your particular issues, so you are prepared to take the floor and deliver – in the office, or in front of an audience.
- You’ll learn to recognise nervous energy and re-direct it productively, as well as how your body language impacts your presence.
- I can help you discover how to use your voice and speech to enhance your message, and how to scale your performance to the size and nature of your audience.
- You’ll also learn how to respond to your audience – effective presentation can be as much about processing the response, as it is about speaking.
- And you’ll learn to find your own voice and feel more comfortable with yourself – in the workplace and in life.
As the Alexander Technique creates the conditions for improved use of your speaking voice, I tend to incorporate some Alexander work into each (adult) lesson.
Appointments & Fees
Voice & Presentation Coaching
1 hour : £60.00
Appointments are available Monday to Friday.
Some early evening and Saturday appointments can be made.
